The following statement can be attributed to Tom Wright, President and CEO of Regional Plan Association.
The announced New York State budget includes support for a number of RPA’s priorities. This includes housing policies that RPA has long called for, such as repealing the 12 FAR cap, supporting a pilot to legalize basement apartments in certain parts of New York City, authorizing a new opt-in tax exemption for ADUs statewide, and facilitating office-to-residential conversions. The budget also speeds up the construction of renewable energy transmission projects, address toll evasion, and fund a number of critical transportation projects, including planning for the Interborough Express and Second Avenue Subway extension.
Incentives to support new affordable housing development are welcome improvements, as are allowing speed limit reductions known as “Sammy’s Law” and increased funding for bus service across the state.
While we recognize these gains on housing, especially for New York City, we also recognize the desperate need for the state to take the lead on increasing housing supply in areas of high opportunity that continue to restrict new construction. For example, RPA’s new report, Homes on Track: Building Thriving Communities Around Transit has identified near and mid-term opportunities across our region where investments and new regulations could take better advantage of New York’s best-in-the-nation commuter rail system and unlock transit-oriented development (TOD) potential.
Our housing crisis extends beyond New York City, with over 800k units needed over the next decade, and it will not be solved until every municipality–not just some–does their part. We are glad to see the Pro-Housing Community Program become a requirement for localities wanting to access $650 million in discretionary funding, and support for preserving existing housing, especially for rural New Yorkers at risk of losing their USDA Section 515 affordable rental units. Unfortunately, efforts to pass the Faith Based Affordable Housing Act, one of the few proposals to establish a statewide framework this session to build much needed affordable housing failed. And while $500 million was approved to support up to 15,000 units of housing on state-owned land and an opt-in incentive program for accessory dwelling units was established, this still leaves us short of addressing the scale of the need. Meanwhile, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and other states have statewide frameworks that require housing production and affordability everywhere in the state. We will continue to work with advocates and officials to learn and apply best practices to increase our housing supply and create a more affordable New York.
On the transportation front, we are grateful that New York City will be authorized to reduce speed limits based on NYCDOT’s discretion. “Sammy’s Law” is critical to ensure we can adapt our streets to be safer for New Yorkers and work to avoid pedestrian tragedies. Critical transportation projects in New York City, including $52 million for design and engineering for the Interborough Express and an additional $16 million towards planning for the Second Avenue Subway expansion. And we applaud the increased funding for operating costs for transit systems across the state to better serve New Yorkers, while supporting efforts to prevent unnecessary costs to the MTA, by approving a suite of efforts to combat toll evasion.
When it comes to requisite climate action to meet our emission reduction goals, we were disappointed that the budget failed to include neither the Senate’s (NY HEAT) nor Governor’s (AGTA) landmark proposals to speed up the transition away from fossil fuels through the elimination of the “100-foot rule,” a subsidy that favors expansion of the gas system, and utilities’ obligation to serve gas. Absent repeal or reform, these existing policies will continue to run contrary to the state’s climate law which requires New York to significantly phase out fossil fuels by 2050. As the climate crisis worsens, we must take every step to meet our climate targets and avoid the worst impacts of climate change. An important piece of that is ramping up renewables in the state, so we were pleased that the budget takes important steps to speed up the responsible construction of the transmission infrastructure necessary for renewables. Our 2023 report, Making Offshore Wind Transmission Work for Communities, addresses this issue and calls for improvements to the way and the speed at which transmission infrastructure is developed.
